A Full Wolf Moon is simply the name bestowed upon January’s full moon.

“In Native American and early Colonial times, the full moon for January was called the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages,” the Old Farmer’s Almanac reported.

It’s called a blood moon because s little bit of sunlight is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere… bending around the edges of the Earth before reaching the moon, causing the reddish tint. The moon doesn’t disappear from sight, but does become 10,000 or so times dimmer than usual.

Sometimes, a full moon coincides with perigee — that point in the moon’s orbit when it’s closest to Earth — and will appear somewhat larger than usual. Traditionally, a full moon that occurs within 90 percent of the moon’s perigee earns the title “supermoon.” As it turns out, that’s the very reason why this upcoming full moon is being referred to as a “super” moon.

When the moon begins to enter the umbra, the change is dramatic. This part of Earth’s shadow is much darker than the penumbra and fairly sharp-edged. As the umbra engulfs more of the moon, the eclipsed part will probably begin to glow with a deep-brown or ochre hue.

During totality, which will last 62 minutes, the moon will appear to glow like an eerie ball — which to the eye, and especially in binoculars and small telescopes — will appear almost three dimensional. The moon’s color during the upcoming totality is not known. Some eclipses are such a dark, grey-black color that the moon nearly vanishes from view. During other eclipses, it can glow a bright orange.

The reason the moon can be seen at all when totally eclipsed is that sunlight is scattered and refracted around Earth by our atmosphere, and enough of this light reaches the moon to give it a faint, coppery glow even when it’s totally eclipsed. Since the moon will be traveling through the northern part of Earth’s shadow, the upper part of its disk will probably appear somewhat brighter than the lower part, because the upper part will lie closest to the outer edge of Earth’s shadow.

What truly makes this event “America’s Eclipse” are two viewing criteria for the contiguous (48) states:

1) The entire eclipse is visible from start to finish.

2) Totality begins before midnight from coast to coast.

Only two eclipses have met these criteria in the past 50 years. One occurred in April 1968 and the other occurred on the very same date — Jan. 20 — 19 years ago.

It happens on Sunday night of the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in the U.S. This will be the first time since 1975 that a total lunar eclipse coincides with a holiday weekend. With no school on Monday, kids of all ages should be able to stay up and watch this lunar show, no matter how late it is.

Here is a complete timetable detailing the various stages of the eclipse for six different time zones:

Local Circumstances of the Total Lunar Eclipse of Jan. 20-21, 2019

Standard Time

Eastern

Central

Mountain

Pacific

Alaska

Hawaii

Moon enters penumbra

9:36 p.m.

8:36 p.m.

7:36 p.m.

6:36 p.m.

—

—

Moon enters umbra

10:34 p.m.

9:34 p.m.

8:34 p.m.

7:34 p.m.

6:34 p.m.

—

Total eclipse begins

11:41 p.m.

10:41 p.m.

9:41 p.m.

8:41 p.m.

7:41 p.m.

6:41 p.m.

Middle of eclipse

12:13 a.m.

11:13 p.m.

10:13 p.m.

9:13 p.m.

8:13 p.m.

7:13 p.m.

Total eclipse ends

12:43 a.m.

11:43 p.m.

10:43 p.m.

9:43 p.m.

8:43 p.m.

7:43 p.m.

Moon leaves umbra

1:51 a.m

12:51 a.m.

11:51 p.m.

10:51 p.m.

9:51 p.m.

8:51 p.m.

Moon leaves penumbra

2:48 a.m.

1:48 a.m.

12:48 a.m.

11:48 p.m.

10:48 p.m.

9:48 p.m.

Binoculars or a telescope will reveal more details on the moon’s surface, such as smaller craters speckled across its surface.

The eclipse will also bring a window for photographers to take breathtaking pictures of the night sky, as the eclipsed moon will greatly reduce the amount of natural light pollution filling the sky.

The darkened sky will also make it easier to spot some stray shooting stars.

Stargazers staying awake after the eclipse is over will also be able to see an astronomical event known as a conjunction.

Venus and Jupiter will appear side-by-side in the southeastern sky between 5 a.m. local time and sunrise. These planets will be hard to miss, as they are the brightest planets in the night sky.

The lunar eclipse will be visible across all of North America and South America and partially visible in Europe and Africa on the night of Jan. 20 into the early hours of Jan. 21.